Saturday News, February 3rd

(Le Mars) — While State Representative Chuck Holz has said he will not seek re-election to the Iowa House of Representatives, another person has stepped up to announce his intentions of running for state House of Representatives.
Retired dentist, Dr. Tom Jeneary of Le Mars made the announcement on Friday.

Jeneary is currently serving as a board member to the State Dental Board, he was appointed by Governor Terry Branstad. Jeneary has not held any previous elected position, but has been active with the Plymouth County Pheasants Forever chapter, as well as with his church, the Presbyterian-United Church of Christ of Le Mars.

Holz will complete his term as a state legislator through the General Session.

Day Two For KLEM Expo

(Le Mars) — Its day two for the KLEM Expo. Doors will open today at 10:00 a.m. and will remain open until 3:00 p.m. Hy Vee will provide a chili feed over the lunch hour, and don’t forget to register for the free Treger grill to be given away. There is free admission. More than 50 exhibitors are on hand to visit with you.

Amerigroup Says It Will Again Accept Medicaid Patients For Insurance

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An insurance company that had stopped accepting new Medicaid patients within Iowa’s privatized health care program will soon resume enrollment.
The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Friday that Amerigroup plans to accept new patients beginning in May. Patients will then have a choice between Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare, the other insurance company providing
coverage.
Amerigroup also plans to provide coverage, beginning in March, for about 10,000 patients temporarily enrolled in the state’s old Medicaid reimbursement system.
Amerigroup said late last year it didn’t have the capacity to accept new Medicaid patients. The company made the decision public after a third company, AmeriHealth Caritas, said it was leaving Iowa amid a contract dispute.
DHS says it’s responding to complaints over reduced services under the privatized Medicaid system.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program violated the rights of disabled patients.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger made the decision Friday. She notes the main insurance company referenced in the lawsuit, AmeriHealth Caritas,
stopped providing Medicaid coverage in the state late last year.
Disability Rights Iowa filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of six people, claiming the insurance companies running the health care program cut services to people with disabilities. It named Gov. Kim Reynolds and DHS director Jerry Foxhoven.
Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, says in a statement the organization is evaluating its next steps. She says the Legislature should take action in the meantime.
A message left for a DHS spokesman was not immediately returned Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has declared that text messaging a photo of one’s genitals to another person is not indecent exposure under state law.
The court ruled Friday that to meet the definition of the Iowa law as written such an offensive display must be done in the physical presence of the offended person.
The ruling dismisses an indecent exposure charge against 55-year-old Jose Willfredo Lopez, who stalked a woman after she rejected his efforts to date her.
He sent her a picture of his genitals and showed up at her house, even though she’d obtained a no-contact order against him. He was also convicted of stalking and is serving prison time.
Sending an unwanted photo of one’s genitals to another adult could still lead to a harassment charge.

Council Bluffs Police Name Officer Involved With Shooting Incident

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs police have released the name of a suspect and the officer who shot him earlier this week.
Police said in a news release Friday that Officer Trevor Benson shot 21-year-old Daton Petrey, of Omaha, early Thursday morning. Police say Petrey refused to tell the officer his name or get out of his car during initial contact. Police say when Benson opened Petrey’s door to try to remove him, Petrey put the car in reverse, dragging the officer for about 40 feet.
Police say Benson fired two shots, hitting Petrey once in the torso. The officer wasn’t hurt.
The car sped way but soon crashed. Petrey was arrested after a short foot chase, then taken to an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital, where he’s expected to recover.
A Nebraska felony arrest warrant was out on Petrey for parole violation at the time of the shooting.

Brokaw Donates Items To University of Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Longtime NBC journalist Tom Brokaw has donated thousands of documents spanning his career to the University of Iowa, and they’re now available to the public.
The collection includes a notebook with interview questions for Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev and press badges from Saudi Arabia and the 1992 Republican National Convention.
Some of the donated photographs show Brokaw standing in front of plumes of smoke in New York on Sept. 11.
Graduate Assistant Elizabeth Riordan says the collection shows 50 years of the biggest global news stories as seen through the eyes of one reporter.
Brokaw spent his freshman year at the university, which gave him an honorary doctorate in 2010.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the items were made available to the public on Thursday at the university’s Main Library.
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